Vitra Unveils Its Stunning New Museum Designed by Herzog & deMeuron

BY CLIFF KUANGMon Feb 22, 2010
View original post at www.fastcompany.com

The German furniture-maker maker adds another jewel to its starchitect-studded corporate campus.

The Vitra campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany, is already a mecca for contemporary architecture, featuring a design museum by Frank Gehry, a conference center by Tadao Ando, and another building on the way by SANAA. And they've just finished what might be the greatest of them of them all: a new building, designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, to showcase the company's home-furniture collection.

A Woman's First Week at the Gym

My friend Laura sent me this. If you read this without laughing out loud, there is something wrong with you. This is dedicated to everyone who ever attempted to get into a regular workout routine.


Dear Diary,
For my birthday this year, my Husband (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me. Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try. I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Chito, who identified himself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear. My husband seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

HOW TO: Make Your Small Business Geolocation-Ready

HOW TO: Make Your Small Business Geolocation-Ready

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Small businesses stand to increase their local audience and further their market reach through geolocation platforms, which attach real-world locations to mobile phones. Here are a few ways companies can become part of the location tagging world of social media.

Green Design: Hobbit Style

A Real-Life Hobbit House

View original post at www.shelterpop.com

By Laura Fenton (Subscribe to Laura Fenton's posts)
Feb 4th 2010 8:00AM

Photos: SimonDale.net

A low-impact, eco-conscious house fit for a hobbit in Wales.


I am the sort of girl who read all of The Lord of the Rings books (this was longbefore the films came out) and I even devoured Tolkien's prequel to the series, The Simarillion. So, when I saw a post on lace & tea titled 'The Hobbit House,' I was intrigued.


This Wales-based home is, in fact, designed much like much like what I imagine a hobbit house would be, but this is more than a novelty home. The builder, Simon Dale, and his father-in-law created this house with a low-impact approach and maximum regard for the environment in mind. It was also a do-it-yourself project, built on the cheap by hand: A-mazing! ....click to read more.

Great Ideas: Sustainable Dance Floor

The Sustainable Dance Floor generates energy as you bust a move by translating the vertical movement into electricity.

Sun is in Capricorn - My personality profile

Surprisingly accurate. Although I completely disagree with the negative aspects. Capricorns are perfect, we don't have flaws! LOL See your profile at www.astrolis.com.

Kevin's Sun is in Capricorn Vitality You are basically down to earth and practical. You generally possess a great deal of patience and quiet ambition. Once you have decided on a course of action you can work hard for many years, enduring many setbacks, to achieve what you have set out to do. This will often be an achievement that meets with conventional standards of approval, but even if your life-style and goals are not so conventional you'll still need to see some sort of material or tangible result for your efforts. There's also a tendency to take life too seriously, and you may have little patience with those who take a more laid back approach to life and love. Remember to loosen up a bit every now and then, so that you can enjoy life here and now. Kevin's Moon is in Libra Habits You have a need for harmony and honesty in your emotional life. You also need intellectual nourishment in order to feel happy and secure. You're naturally diplomatic and fair in your dealings with others, with an easygoing nature and an innate ability to see the many sides to any issue. On the negative side, however, this same fairness and balance of viewpoint can become indecisiveness and a tendency to avoid direct action when it's necessary. You would probably do well to work in a partnership where decision-making can be shared, as decisiveness may not be your strong point. Kevin's Rising Sign is Aquarius Self-identity Being restless, original and rebellious, you need to be seen as an individual with the freedom to make your own choices and your own way in life. You don't like being taken for granted and at times will deliberately shock others with your unpredictable conduct. Kevin, click here to find out more about the area of life concerned with your sense of self-identity, the impression you give and how others see you. Kevin's Mercury is in Sagittarius Mentality You prefer to think in broad philosophical terms rather than get bogged down in petty details. Although this is generally not a bad thing you may tend to overlook the fact that some details are important. You will try to live your life by what you believe and what you think is the best way to be, regardless of what other people may think, and you can be rather tactless in what you say. Your mind is restless and open to the future, refusing to be tied down by the past or present. Your refusal to be pinned down or express a definite opinion on some issues may frustrate other people. It's not that you don't have opinions; it's just that tomorrow it may suit you to change them - so it's best to keep your options open. Kevin's Venus is in Scorpio Capacity for love You approach relationships with deep emotional intensity. Sometimes these intense feelings may be difficult for even you to understand or accept. You may handle this by giving the impression of being unemotional, but you're not as hard as you like people to think. You may find yourself involved in relationships that have a powerful and transforming effect on your life. You'll be possessive, but, like most of your deeper feelings, that will probably be safely hidden beneath the surface. To expose how you really feel would only make you feel vulnerable. Kevin's Mars is in Aquarius Driving force You possess a tremendous amount of determination to achieve your goals. There's a great need for personal freedom, which can occasionally lead to unpredictable conduct. You're prepared to defend your thoughts and opinions with great force and regard criticism of your opinions as a personal attack. This will probably lead to conflict until you either stop taking yourself so seriously or learn to respect the opinions of others.

Design Ideas: Hiding your television

Great post on www.apartmenttherapy.com

The Power Of Distraction, Part II: Hiding TVs In Plain View

While I love watching movies, I will never love the look of a TV, but I love the idea of a bulky media cabinet even less...so what's a flick-obsessed aesthete to do? Well,Kyle's post on her TV curtain got me thinking about subtler ways to distract the eye from these mammoth eyesores. Here are some tips.

Just Ask A Designer | Online Interior Design

Chinese Astrology | I'm a Fire Goat

Daydreaming all afternoon sounds heavenly to the Sheep. This creative, esoteric Sign needs plenty of time alone in which to feed its Muse. Sheep are generally most comfortable in their own minds (which other, more linear-thinking Signs may have trouble deciphering). This Sign makes a great craftsperson or artisan, or perhaps a teacher of New Age studies -- any occupation that allows its mind the full range of freedom. Sheep tend not to be very well-organized, precluding many more dry business endeavors. In fact, Sheep tend not to be very materialistic in general, finding plenty of riches in their own imagination. However, especially when in love, the Sheep can be quite a lavish gift-giver. Perhaps it's that artistic temperament that so often causes Sheep to feel insecure, but the result is that these high-strung creatures need to feel loved and admired lest they start worrying incessantly. For this reason, Sheep tend to have a hard time with romance; anyone who couples up with a Sheep must know, this Sign has a sensitive streak a mile wide and can be subject to bouts of anxiety over seemingly inconsequential things. Sheep need plenty of love, support and open reassurance from their lovers.

Just In: Apollo just won silver.

Apollo just won silver. I was hoping he'd get the gold.

Eco Kitchen of the Future

Great article found on Inhabit.com.

Faltazi Envisions the Eco Kitchen of the Future

by Lea Bogdan, 02/10/10

This green Ekokook kitchen by Faltazi design is one of the most well-researched culinary concepts we have seen. Ekokook proposes that in the future, the general public will strive to become self-sufficient in their homes, and they will do so through conservation and reuse. Eco enthusiasts will drool over the abundance of green features and efficient functionality, and the hearts of design aficionados will beat a bit faster when they see the clean lines, polished renderings, and ultra-cool process video.

Michael Buble - Haven't Met You Yet

FREE Photo, Illustration and Drafting Software

If you need general photo editing tools try using Google Picasa 3.6

http://picasa.google.com/ 

Free License. Free Download. Links to your online Picasa Account.

Picasa is free to download, and Picasa Web Albums provides 1 gigabyte of free storage -- that's enough space for 4,000 wallpaper-size photos. Edit to perfection. Improve almost any picture with Picasa's one-click fixes for common problems like red-eye, color, and lighting. Or, use tuning and effects to make your best photos look even better.Beautiful web albums. Show your photos at their best. View full-screen slideshows, see your pictures arranged on a global map, enjoy video playback, and more.Sharing made simple. Publish your favorite photos online with one click. Create stunning online photo albums to share with friends and family, or public albums for the world to see. Get notified when your "Favorites" post new photos.

FREE Anti-virus, Malware and Spyware Software

Anti-virus, Malware, Spyware Software

If you need McAfee, Norton or anything like it try using Microsoft Security Essentials

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ 

Free License. Free Download.

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple. Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

FREE Office Productivity Software

If you need Microsoft Office Suite/Microsoft Word try using Google Docs

If you need Microsoft Excel try using Google Spreadsheets

If you need Microsoft PowerPoint try using Google Presentations

www.docs.google.com 

Free License. No download necessary. Use Online. Anywhere. Anytime.

You can also install Google Gears on your computer which syncs your files for use Offline.

Create basic documents from scratch or start from a template. You can easily do all the basics, including making bulleted lists, sorting by columns, adding tables, images, comments, formulas, changing fonts and more. Upload your existing files. Google Docs accepts most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, etc. So go ahead and upload your existing files. Familiar desktop feel makes editing a breeze. Just click the toolbar buttons to bold, underline, indent, change font or number format, change cell background color and so on. The best part of Google Docs is sharing and collaboration. Multiple people can share and edit the same document...at the same time! Great for projects. You can give your co-worker full 'edit' rights to a document and share it with a client and only allow them 'viewing' rights. You can't do that with Office unless everyone has an expensive license. Plus it's integrated with all the Google products like Blogger, Picasa Photos, Sites, Groups and Calendar.

TED2010 | Augmented-reality mapping technology.

This is truly amazing stuff.


In a demo that drew gasps at TED2010, Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos new augmented-reality mapping technology from Microsoft. Blaise Aguera y Arcas is an architect at Microsoft Live Labs, architect of Seadragon, and the co-creator of Photosynth, a monumental piece of software capable of assembling static photos into… Full bio and more links

FREE Productivity Software

FREE SOFTWARE 

Here's a list of programs that are free/open source. I have all the microsoft products on my computer and I have to say keeping up with licensing and the latest version is a pain in the ass and needless to say very expensive over time. My switch to these programs has been gradual but I have to say I am VERY happy with them and today I am Microsoft free. (Except for Windows) Plus they all are fully compatible with the paid versions so you can easily share, import and export files. NOT a problem. I don't even miss them. I'm tempted to erase everything Microsoft but I'm just not there yet...maybe next week. LOL 

Keep in mind everyone is targeting microsoft and they are doing it by offering competitive alternatives for FREE hoping you will pay for other services they offer. So take advantage. And all are compatible with MS Windows and Mac OS X computers. 

Pornographic Fruits And Vegetables (PHOTOS)

It's funny what people can imagine.

Click here to see full gallery: Pornographic Fruits And Vegetables (PHOTOS)

Elephant Seal Cuddles With Woman (VIDEO)

I could die happy with an experience like this. Laying on the beach, cuddles with my elephant seal friend with penquins walking around. A perfect day.

Elephant Seal Cuddles With Woman (VIDEO)

Google Sketchup

more drawings...

Canoe trip in the Pokonos

more photos...

Exploring the Pokonos

Mets Season Final at Citifield

A great end to the summer. Derek managed to get tickets to the new Citifield Stadium here in Queens and I got to see the Mets play. I'm not a big fan of baseball on tv, a bit of a snorefest if you ask me. But I love going to the park. The people watching is great. The food is great. You get some good sun, you do sing-a-long, you dance a bit and then the 7th inning stretch. Fun. After we strolled over to where they play the US Open Tennis Championships, then on to Corona park which is like Central Park for Queens. The park was filled with soccer players from all over Latin America. I had just seen a documentary on PBS about the Golden League who play in the park. All ex-professional players from all over South America. So if you are a big fan of soccer it's the place to see some of your heroes from days gone by.